A Florida judge has dismissed the US justice department’s classified documents case against Donald Trump in a huge victory for the former president just days after a gunman attempted to assassinate him.
Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s motion to dismiss the federal case on the basis that the justice department’s appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith violates the Appointments Clause of the US Constitution.
Trump pleaded not guilty to several charges in the case over his handling of classified documents, including willful retention of national defence information.
Dozens of classified files were found in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, including in a shower and storage room, after Trump left the White House in 2021.
“The Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” Judge Cannon concluded in her 93-page order.
The former president faced 40 felony counts over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
He was charged alongside aide Walt Nauta and former employee Carlos de Oliveira, who had also pleaded not guilty.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Mr Smith in 2022 to oversee two federal investigations into the former president.
Judge Cannon said in her ruling that this decision applies to this case and not a second one overseen by Mr Smith over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The former president’s lawyers did not make a similar request to dismiss that case.
The Trump-appointed Florida judge had recently indefinitely postponed the federal classified documents trial, saying there were significant questions over trial evidence.
Legal experts have debated the strengths and weakness of the two federal criminal cases brought by Mr Smith.
On Monday, Judge Cannon stepped in and said those details did not matter.
She held that the mere existence of special counsels – how they are appointed and how they are funded – violates the US Constitution.
Judge Cannon’s ruling cuts against the ruling of judges in other US courts that have dealt with these specially appointed prosecutors.
It draws from theories advanced by some conservative legal scholars and, most notably, by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the top court’s recently decided presidential immunity case.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the BBC on Monday that Judge Cannon’s ruling was “stunning, to say the least”.
“Even though she says it’s limited to this case, her ruling casts doubt upon the appointment of special counsels in other cases, most notably Hunter Biden,” he said.
President Joe Biden’s son was investigated by a special counsel and convicted on gun charges last month.
Mr Rahmani said he would not be surprised if Judge Cannon’s order was overturned by the Eleventh Circuit or the US Supreme Court.
Mr Smith is able to appeal Monday’s ruling and ask for a new judge to be assigned to the case. The case could end up before the Supreme Court.
The special counsel has yet to publicly comment on Judge Cannon’s ruling.
Judge Cannon’s decision also comes as Republicans gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Republican National Convention, where Trump will accept the party’s nomination for president.
On Monday, Trump said on his social media site that the dismissal of the case “should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts”.
“Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”
While many Republican lawmakers cheered the decision, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, described the dismissal as a “breathtakingly misguided ruling” that must be appealed immediately.
In May, Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records in a New York hush-money case. He is due to be sentenced in September.
He has also been charged with four criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of citizens, in the 2020 election case.
Trump and some 18 other defendants are also accused of criminally conspiring to overturn his very narrow defeat in the state of Georgia in the 2020 election in a separate case.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
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